nd as years went by it
sank lower and lower. The convenience of the neighbouring pine-woods,
the two ports between which the town lies, and the existence of Porto
Pedocchio caused the Venetians to move their arsenal hither from Lesina
in 1776; and during the last century it has recovered to some extent,
but the population remains poor.

The island of Lissa lies to the north-east of Curzola, much farther away
from the mainland. The climate is very mild; palms, cactus, aloes, and
myrtle flourish; and a wine known as Opollo is as much sought after as
that made from Lissan grape-juice, praised in antiquity by
Agatharchides. It is cut into by two large bays, to the west the Valle
di Comisa, and to the north-east the harbour of Lissa. There are some
small remains of antiquity. The foundations of the Roman theatre are
partly in the sea, and other Roman ruins are round about the harbour,
though the ancient Issa occupied the site of Gradina, 300 ft. above the
sea. One statue at least which was found here has been taken to Vienna.
Lago says that under the building of the Blessed Virgin "delle
Graticelle" there are caverns said to contain the graves of Diomede and
his companions. Apollonius of Rhodes says that the original colonists
came from Issa in Lesbos, and were Pelasgic Liburnians; but Polybius
tells of a Greek colonisation in 392 B.C. under Dionysios the Elder, of
Syracuse. It is certain, from gems and inscriptions found, that a free
state existed here about 340 B.C. It was through Issa seeking protection
from Rome that the commencement of the conquest of Illyria sprang. Their
being able to help the Romans with twenty ships in their war with Philip
of Macedon, and their founding such cities as Tragurium and Epetium show
their importance in antiquity. The Goths of Ravenna destroyed the town
in 535 A.D., on their way to Salona. It was destroyed a second time by
the Narentans, and a third time, in 1483, by the Aragonese. The great
battle for which Lissa is celebrated took place on March 13, 1811, when
the French were beaten by the English, who destroyed all their ships but
three, the commander Dubourdieu being killed, after which Lissa was made
a kind of Adriatic Malta. The Austrians strengthened the fortifications
of the English, making it an arsenal, and in 1866 Tegethoff beat the
Italian fleet here. Some interest attaches to the fortifications,
monuments, and graveyards of the island, on account of the British
occupation. T